New Home Adventures

About six months ago, my family moved into a new, custom-built home. Designing and building a brand new home for our family was one of the biggest adventures of our lives. And I have to say that it’s been totally worth it! I’m so glad that we decided to go this route.
I started this blog for other people who are considering a custom-built home. I want to share what I learned about how to save money, get financing, and make plans to build a dream home of your very own. With the right information, you too can have the custom built home of your dreams.

Pros And Cons Of Retractable Garage Doors

Posted on:
15 January 2015

Instead of the usual garage door with a garage door opener, you have retractable garage doors. While very unique, these doors present some atypical challenges for owners, which you probably have not encountered yet. There are many pros and cons to having this type of garage door, and you may decide to replace them once you read the following.

Rectractable Garage Door Pros

The really nice features of retractable garage doors are:

wide openings to accommodate large vehicles.

no overhead door mechanisms that could scratch the tops of SUVs, Hummers, and other very large vehicles.

the doors retract into the side walls all the way, remain out of sight when you want your garage open, and close and lock easily when you are not home.

fully customized door panels that add a very unique look to your garage.

If you did not install your retractable garage doors and they were a pet project of the previous owner of your home, you will find that they are very attractive and decorative. That is their main selling point, and probably the reason the previous owner selected and installed them.

Retractable Garage Door Cons

Despite their attractive design and useful features, there are just as many cons to having retractable garage doors as there are pros.

For example:

Retractable garage doors require as much side wall to retract into as they are wide, which means your garage is probably a double- or triple-wide garage just to accommodate the retracting doors.

Retractable doors are often controlled electrically, so if there is a power outage or a fuse is tripped, your garage doors will not open or they will get stuck part way.

Retractable doors rely heavily on a horizontal track that can get damaged if you drop objects into the track space or something jams it up.

There is a lot of space in your garage that you cannot use to shelter another vehicle because of the way your garage doors open.

Retractable garage doors require more repairs than the standard, up and down doors with a garage door opener.

If you have not called for garage door repair on your retractable garage doors at least once in the first year that you live in your home, then you are very fortunate. Most homeowners who have them either love them or hate them because of the lack or excess of repair calls they have made to keep them working and functional. Eventually, you may decide to replace them with a more traditional garage door, and a garage door contractor (such as Plano Overhead Garage Door) can help you with your garage door replacement.